What it will REALLY cost you to buy a used SC....
05-17-07, 10:42 PM
#1
Keeper of the light
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What it will REALLY cost you to buy a used SC....
Ok, you are standing by two SC's deciding on which to buy.
Option #1 looks nearly perfect, garage maintained with all service records and everything is spot on, clean paperwork. This car costs $5800.00 and is a 1995.
Option #2 Looks rough around the edges. leather is shot, LCD is toast on the climate and radio, changer does not work, power steering whines, car drifts left to right going down the road, vibrations (engine related), and a few other gremlins. This car costs $4500 and is also a 1995.
I hate to tell you, but the majority of people will buy the $4500 car and plan on fixing things. Here's what that will cost you.......
leather kit from leatherseats.com- $650
used radio and climate- $250
used changer- $150
PS pump- $200 (or steering rack $800)
New bushings on all arms- $800 (installed)
Engine and tranny mounts- $400 installed
a grand in tuneup maintenance, and that's cheap $1000
Total $2600-$3200+ parts and labor.
+4500 = $7700.00
I don't think the people that are looking at SC's really understand what it takes to get one up and running in good condition. All I see lately is threads popping up "I bought my SC for $2600 I got a helluva deal!". ..........we'll see when you're done building it back to just STOCK clean. Much less the money pit modding it.
Anyone in the market for an SC, do yourself a favor..... find the many threads on common issues, including a thread I did on "common issues when buying an SC" and buy the one in the best condition possible and realize that it IS worth the money.
Option #1 looks nearly perfect, garage maintained with all service records and everything is spot on, clean paperwork. This car costs $5800.00 and is a 1995.
Option #2 Looks rough around the edges. leather is shot, LCD is toast on the climate and radio, changer does not work, power steering whines, car drifts left to right going down the road, vibrations (engine related), and a few other gremlins. This car costs $4500 and is also a 1995.
I hate to tell you, but the majority of people will buy the $4500 car and plan on fixing things. Here's what that will cost you.......
leather kit from leatherseats.com- $650
used radio and climate- $250
used changer- $150
PS pump- $200 (or steering rack $800)
New bushings on all arms- $800 (installed)
Engine and tranny mounts- $400 installed
a grand in tuneup maintenance, and that's cheap $1000
Total $2600-$3200+ parts and labor.
+4500 = $7700.00
I don't think the people that are looking at SC's really understand what it takes to get one up and running in good condition. All I see lately is threads popping up "I bought my SC for $2600 I got a helluva deal!". ..........we'll see when you're done building it back to just STOCK clean. Much less the money pit modding it.
Anyone in the market for an SC, do yourself a favor..... find the many threads on common issues, including a thread I did on "common issues when buying an SC" and buy the one in the best condition possible and realize that it IS worth the money.
05-17-07, 11:53 PM
#4
Lexus Test Driver
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The only way I know that it would be cheaper is if you bought the car to swap everything out anyway, like swapping in a 2J, Double Din Touch Screen, Recaro seats, ETC. However, if you get it just to go stock then ya, your wasting your time + money.
05-18-07, 12:20 AM
#5
Mortgage Slave
Too true B...
Kinda like when I bought my Soarer about 2 years ago. Yes I did pay a bit of a premium price ($24500) for it however...
* It was a late series (1997, 1JZ VVTi, stock as a rock)
* Black on black
* Extremely clean interior with no cracks except for air vents
* No big accidents
* 55xxx kms... looked it, smelt it, felt like it and drove like it too
The other one I was looking at was a late 96 DPW with $20000...
* Obvious front damage, average paint
* Worn struts
* Messy interior with the usual door cracks and cigarette burns all over the place
* Non-working audio
* Half-blank A/C unit
* Fishtank-edition headlights
* (and then found out) Been on a jig
* Engine had slight knock (couldn't tell if it was bottom end or not)
The only *good* thing that the DPW had over my Soarer were the 19" SSR Koenigs (weak offset so that brought it back down
... plus my wheels should be arriving in a matter of weeks 
)
On my current Soarer the only things I have had to replace were the heater control valve, radiator top tank and a few light bulbs (and reverted from PnP HID to stock halogens)... oh, plus the major service.
Remember people... you always get what you pay for
Kinda like when I bought my Soarer about 2 years ago. Yes I did pay a bit of a premium price ($24500) for it however...
* It was a late series (1997, 1JZ VVTi, stock as a rock)
* Black on black
* Extremely clean interior with no cracks except for air vents
* No big accidents
* 55xxx kms... looked it, smelt it, felt like it and drove like it too
The other one I was looking at was a late 96 DPW with $20000...
* Obvious front damage, average paint
* Worn struts
* Messy interior with the usual door cracks and cigarette burns all over the place
* Non-working audio
* Half-blank A/C unit
* Fishtank-edition headlights
* (and then found out) Been on a jig
* Engine had slight knock (couldn't tell if it was bottom end or not)
The only *good* thing that the DPW had over my Soarer were the 19" SSR Koenigs (weak offset so that brought it back down
... plus my wheels should be arriving in a matter of weeks )On my current Soarer the only things I have had to replace were the heater control valve, radiator top tank and a few light bulbs (and reverted from PnP HID to stock halogens)... oh, plus the major service.
Remember people... you always get what you pay for
05-18-07, 12:31 AM
#6
Pole Position
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exactly. the only benefit is (1) saving a few bucks by doing the labor yourself, (2) superceding some of those fixes with mods, and (3) not having to fork over all the money at once. in the end youre still stuck with a high mileage scarred sc. finding a clean car for more money would better for most picky oem type people.
05-18-07, 03:59 AM
#7
I brought my car for $3100 two years ago. it is now running well and I have spent about 4200 in total. I figure I will put another $3000 in it (kit & rims). I think it is probably best to buy low and restore to you what you like. If you look at it the way I do. I don't plan on selling this car so with time on my side I can do everything to my car and keep it under my 10k max.
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05-18-07, 06:18 AM
#8
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yup .i paid about 7500 for my 93dpw sc300 and never had any major issues with it.i paid 900 for my 97 sc400 and so far invested about 3000 dollars in it (i do all the labour myself) slowly but surely i will have it like new again.if your are not mechanically inclined dont waste your time getting a fixer upper it will cost you in the longrun
05-18-07, 06:21 AM
#9
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i paid 15k for mine from a dealership..and it came with 36k miles on it...i recently went looking for SC found a sc300 1998 with around 40k on it black/black..for 19k..is on dupontrestry if anyone is interested
05-18-07, 06:26 AM
#10
Lead Lap
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These cars are def not cheap to repair.
-$800 in parts just to replace the water pump because I figured while I am in there and the car has 160,000 miles on it, might as well do: drive belt, timing belt, drive belt idler pulley, drive belt tensioner, timing belt idlers (2), timing belt tensioner, water pump, distributor caps (2), distributor rotors (2), and I thread in the alternator ($279). I always purchase all new OEM parts.
-$450 for install of above
-$980 for leatherseats (perforated inserts, premium package, arm rests, center console, e-brake boot), but on the plus side, the interior is now better than brand new stock ;]
-$250 for radiator, coolant, t-stat, hoses (overheating problem)
-$400 for all new bushings (steering rack, upper/lower/front/rear control arms)
-$400 for install of above
-$300 for newer style gauge cluster and climate control
-$250 in misc parts from aliga
-$300 for headunit to replace non-cd player and multiple lights burnt out stock unit
-countless hours of my time doing work on the car
thats over $4,000 into the car not including mods, i paid $5250 for the car 2 years ago
and awaiting install is steering rack (paid under $200 for a low mileage one from aliga), still need to pick up the steering pump, plus the install should bring it up to around $750 installed w/ parts.
-$800 in parts just to replace the water pump because I figured while I am in there and the car has 160,000 miles on it, might as well do: drive belt, timing belt, drive belt idler pulley, drive belt tensioner, timing belt idlers (2), timing belt tensioner, water pump, distributor caps (2), distributor rotors (2), and I thread in the alternator ($279). I always purchase all new OEM parts.
-$450 for install of above
-$980 for leatherseats (perforated inserts, premium package, arm rests, center console, e-brake boot), but on the plus side, the interior is now better than brand new stock ;]
-$250 for radiator, coolant, t-stat, hoses (overheating problem)
-$400 for all new bushings (steering rack, upper/lower/front/rear control arms)
-$400 for install of above
-$300 for newer style gauge cluster and climate control
-$250 in misc parts from aliga
-$300 for headunit to replace non-cd player and multiple lights burnt out stock unit
-countless hours of my time doing work on the car
thats over $4,000 into the car not including mods, i paid $5250 for the car 2 years ago
and awaiting install is steering rack (paid under $200 for a low mileage one from aliga), still need to pick up the steering pump, plus the install should bring it up to around $750 installed w/ parts.
Last edited by CleanCL; 05-18-07 at 06:37 AM.
05-18-07, 08:35 AM
#12
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why ? some of us take pride on working on our project cars thats why. but if its not a project then yea dont waster your time buying a dirt cheap sc for a DD ,either you will loose your job or get raped by mechanics
05-18-07, 09:32 AM
#13
The less maintenance you have to perform on your SC to get it in tip top shape, the quicker you can drop cash on mods...
To each his own though, I know a lot of SC owners couldn't afford to drop $15K on an SC, and then in turn mod it. Most would rather buy a older "broken in" SC for under $8K, and mod it from there.
Whatever floats your boat!
05-18-07, 09:33 AM
#14
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do all your own work.. that helps too i dont know of many 15 year old cars that dont need anything. pretty much anything you buy that 15 years old its fair to assume its going to need SOME work. If people buy a 15 year old car and expect it will need NOTHING then they are stupid and deserve to spend lots of money cause they didnt think it through beforehand. If anything I think we are pretty safe with the SC. Toyotas are bulletproof
i dont know of many 15 year old cars that dont need anything. pretty much anything you buy that 15 years old its fair to assume its going to need SOME work. If people buy a 15 year old car and expect it will need NOTHING then they are stupid and deserve to spend lots of money cause they didnt think it through beforehand. If anything I think we are pretty safe with the SC. Toyotas are bulletproof
05-18-07, 10:39 AM
#15
Former Sponsor - Cancelled
Ok, you are standing by two SC's deciding on which to buy.
Option #1 looks nearly perfect, garage maintained with all service records and everything is spot on, clean paperwork. This car costs $5800.00 and is a 1995.
Option #2 Looks rough around the edges. leather is shot, LCD is toast on the climate and radio, changer does not work, power steering whines, car drifts left to right going down the road, vibrations (engine related), and a few other gremlins. This car costs $4500 and is also a 1995.
I hate to tell you, but the majority of people will buy the $4500 car and plan on fixing things. Here's what that will cost you.......
leather kit from leatherseats.com- $650
used radio and climate- $250
used changer- $150
PS pump- $200 (or steering rack $800)
New bushings on all arms- $800 (installed)
Engine and tranny mounts- $400 installed
a grand in tuneup maintenance, and that's cheap $1000
Total $2600-$3200+ parts and labor.
+4500 = $7700.00
I don't think the people that are looking at SC's really understand what it takes to get one up and running in good condition. All I see lately is threads popping up "I bought my SC for $2600 I got a helluva deal!". ..........we'll see when you're done building it back to just STOCK clean. Much less the money pit modding it.
Anyone in the market for an SC, do yourself a favor..... find the many threads on common issues, including a thread I did on "common issues when buying an SC" and buy the one in the best condition possible and realize that it IS worth the money.
Option #1 looks nearly perfect, garage maintained with all service records and everything is spot on, clean paperwork. This car costs $5800.00 and is a 1995.
Option #2 Looks rough around the edges. leather is shot, LCD is toast on the climate and radio, changer does not work, power steering whines, car drifts left to right going down the road, vibrations (engine related), and a few other gremlins. This car costs $4500 and is also a 1995.
I hate to tell you, but the majority of people will buy the $4500 car and plan on fixing things. Here's what that will cost you.......
leather kit from leatherseats.com- $650
used radio and climate- $250
used changer- $150
PS pump- $200 (or steering rack $800)
New bushings on all arms- $800 (installed)
Engine and tranny mounts- $400 installed
a grand in tuneup maintenance, and that's cheap $1000
Total $2600-$3200+ parts and labor.
+4500 = $7700.00
I don't think the people that are looking at SC's really understand what it takes to get one up and running in good condition. All I see lately is threads popping up "I bought my SC for $2600 I got a helluva deal!". ..........we'll see when you're done building it back to just STOCK clean. Much less the money pit modding it.
Anyone in the market for an SC, do yourself a favor..... find the many threads on common issues, including a thread I did on "common issues when buying an SC" and buy the one in the best condition possible and realize that it IS worth the money.
Some of those parts your going to have to buy no matter what. PS pump is a known defect with these cars. How is having a car that is well maintained going to keep you from needing a new one?
All cars need tune ups, I doubt some one is going to replace every part required for an tune up then turn around and sell it the next day. Most people don't sell a car until its giving them problems.
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